1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a method and system for a person in a first country (“remitter” or “sender”) to provide cash to a person in a second country (“beneficiary” or “recipient”), in the currency of that second country. The method uses banks in both countries and at least one payment agent in the second country to effect the transfer.
2. Description of the Related Art
FIGS. 1-3 show prior art methods for a remitter (sender) 102 in a first country (“sending country” to send funds to a beneficiary (recipient) 104 in a second country (“receiving country”). The sender pays in the currency of the first country (“sending currency”) while the recipient receives funds in the currency of the second country (“receiving currency”). Thus, if the sender is in the U.S.A. and the recipient is in Mexico, the sender 102 pays in U.S. Dollars and the recipient 104 receives funds in Mexican Pesos.
FIG. 1 shows a first prior art “sender-bank-account to recipient-bank-account” transfer model. The sender 102 banks at a first bank 110 (“sending bank”) located in the first country where he or she has a bank account 112. The recipient 104 banks at a second bank 120 (“receiving bank”) in the second country where he or she has a bank account 122 where funds are in the second currency. In this instance, the second bank is an affiliate of the first bank.
The sender 102 sends instructions 114 to the first bank 110 to transfer funds from his or her account 112 to the recipient's account 122 at the second bank 120. The instructions include information sufficient to identify the sender's bank account 112, the amount to be transferred (in either the sending currency or the receiving currency), and information sufficient to identify the recipient's bank account 122. The sender 102 may also inform the recipient 104 via another channel 116, such as by a telephone call or an e-mail, that a fund transfer to the recipient's bank account 122 is being made, when the funds should be available in the recipient's bank account 122, and the amount being transferred.
The instructions 114 may be provided by the recipient to the sending bank 110 in one of a number of different ways. For example, the instructions 114 may be provided over the telephone to a human operator (“associate”) who converses with the sender to determine the details of the transaction. The instructions may instead be provided over the telephone to an automated system which responds to either voice commands by using voice recognition, or to numeric commands from the telephone keypad, or both. The instructions 114 may instead be provided over the internet, for instance after the sender has logged in to the sending bank's secure web site and entered the required information. Other methods of receiving the instructions 114 are also possible.
Once the sending bank 110 receives the instructions, it checks to see whether there are sufficient funds in the sender's bank account 112. Assuming sufficient funds are present in the sender's bank account 112, the sending bank 110 performs a foreign exchange fund transfer 118 to the recipient's account 122. In this prior art embodiment, since the sending bank 110 and the receiving bank 120 are affiliated with one another, such a transfer can be done through internal systems, without using 3rd party banks, interbank wire transfers, “SWIFT” codes, and the like. Eventually, the recipient 104 may make a withdrawal 144 from his or her own account 122, once the transfer has been completed.
FIG. 2 shows a second prior art “sender-bank-account to recipient-bank-account” transfer model. The prior art model of FIG. 2 differs from the prior art model of FIG. 1 primarily in that the second bank 220 is a 3.sup.rd party bank which is unaffiliated with the sending bank 110. As a consequence, the instructions 214 provided by the sender 102 may be more detailed, giving additional information about the receiving bank 220, such as a SWIFT code. In this instance, the sending bank 110 typically makes a wire transfer 218 through open banking channels, specifying needed routing information, among other things. In addition, the sending bank 110 and the receiving bank 220 will use posted, current foreign exchange rates to determine the cost to the sender to have a specific sum in the receiving currency deposited in the recipient's bank account 222.
FIG. 3 shows a prior art “Western Union®” model for a sender 102 to provide cash to a recipient 104. In this model, agents are used in both the sending country and in the receiving country. The sender 102 visits the office of a collecting agent 302 and completes a form to send money. Among other things, the form asks for contact information about the recipient—name, address, telephone number, etc. The sender 102 then presents the completed form, the amount to be sent plus a transaction fee (all in the currency of the sending country), along with one or more forms of personal identification, such as a driver's license. A test question devised by the sender 102 may also be submitted, along with an answer, for use in confirming the identity of the recipient when payment is made at the other end. The collecting agent 302 gives the sender a receipt with an accompanying Money Transfer Control Number (MTCN), which serves as a tracking number. Thus, in the prior art model of FIG. 3, the sender 102 and the collecting agent 302 must exchange information, as depicted by arrows 314.
The collecting agent 302 then provides the relevant information 306 to a money transfer company 310, such as a Western Union®. The money transfer company uses various channels, shown generally as 318, to send instructions and funds to one of its payment agents 334 in the receiving country. These instructions typically include information sufficient to contact the recipient 104 and authenticate the recipient. Contact information may be as simple as a name, address and phone number, while the authentication information may include the aforementioned test question and/or MTCN number. The sender 102, via another channel 316, typically phone or e-mail, can send needed information about the transaction to the recipient 104.
The beneficiary obtains the cash either by going and picking it up from the payment agent 334, or having it delivered. In either case, the recipient 104 requires authentication information, such as a valid form of identification and, if applicable, the answer to the test question provided by the sender 102. The recipient 104 may also provide the MTCN to the payment agent 334 to identify the transaction. Thus, as seen in FIG. 3, the payment agent 334 provides the recipient 104 with cash, upon receiving the appropriate authentication information, as indicated by arrows 344.
The prior art bank-to-bank models seen in FIGS. 1 and 2 cannot be used when the recipient 104 does not have a bank account. Thus, inter-country fund transfers using these models do not work for millions of potential recipients throughout the world, especially in regions throughout Central and South America, and also in Asia and Africa, where millions do not have bank accounts.
The prior art “Western Union®” model seen in FIG. 3 typically requires that a sender 102 go in person to provide the funds to the collecting agent 302. This is an inconvenience, since senders 102 do not typically have accounts with collecting agents against which they may draw funds for such inter-country money transfers.